The Village Sleuth | |
---|---|
![]() Still with Charles Ray | |
Directed by | Jerome Storm |
Screenplay by | Agnes Christine Johnston |
Produced by | Thomas H. Ince |
Starring | Charles Ray Winifred Westover Dick Rush Donald MacDonald George Hernandez Betty Schade |
Cinematography | Chester A. Lyons |
Production companies | Thomas H. Ince Corporation Famous Players–Lasky Corporation |
Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 50 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | Silent (English intertitles) |
The Village Sleuth is a 1920 American silent comedy drama film directed by Jerome Storm and written by Agnes Christine Johnston. The film stars Charles Ray, Winifred Westover, Dick Rush, Donald MacDonald, George Hernandez, and Betty Schade. The film was released on September 12, 1920, by Paramount Pictures. [1] [2] A copy of the film is in the Gosfilmofond film archive. [3]
![]() | This article may be confusing or unclear to readers.(December 2020) |
As described in a film magazine, [4] William Wells (Ray), a farm boy with a consuming desire to be like Sherlock Holmes, takes his first "detective" commission from his father Pa Wells (Morrison) and seeks to discover the identity of some watermelon thieves. Discovering the culprits among his own gang of friends and his father finding this out, he goes on a wider path to become a detective. Obtaining work as a hired man for a health resort, William begins an untiring hunt for a mystery. He gets a taste of the real thing when a robbery and murder come rapidly racing one over the other. In the end, the man supposedly murdered makes his appearance and the sleuth uncovers the robbery culprit in an ex-convict guest of the resort. Pinky (Westover), a chorus girl in cahoots with the "murdered" man, gives William a lively time in keeping faith in her, but proves her trust in the end.
From a newspaper advertisement for the film:
Copies of The Village Sleuth are held at the Library of Congress, Gosfilmofond, UCLA Film and Television Archive, Academy Film Archive, and Jugoslovenska Kinoteka. [6] [7]
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Do Detectives Think? or The Bodyguard is a 1927 silent comedy short film starring Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy prior to their official billing as the duo Laurel and Hardy.
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Believe Me, Xantippe is a lost 1918 American silent romantic comedy film produced by Jesse Lasky for release through Paramount Pictures. The film was directed by actor/director Donald Crisp and stars Wallace Reid and Ann Little. The film is based on a 1913 William A. Brady-produced play Believe Me Xantippe by John Frederick Ballard, which on the Broadway stage had starred John Barrymore.
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The Sheriff's Son is a 1919 American silent Western film directed by Victor Schertzinger and written by J.G. Hawks and William MacLeod Raine. The film stars Charles Ray, Seena Owen, J. P. Lockney, Charles K. French, Otto Hoffman, and Lamar Johnstone. The film was released on March 30, 1919, by Paramount Pictures. It is not known whether the film currently survives, and it may be a lost film.
Greased Lightning is a surviving 1919 American silent comedy film directed by Jerome Storm and written by Julien Josephson. The film stars Charles Ray, Wanda Hawley, Robert McKim, Willis Marks, Bert Woodruff, and J. P. Lockney. The film was released on April 27, 1919, by Paramount Pictures.
John Petticoats is a 1919 American silent action film directed by Lambert Hillyer and written by C. Gardner Sullivan. The film stars William S. Hart, Walt Whitman, George Webb, Winifred Westover, Ethel Shannon, and Andrew Arbuckle. The film was released on November 2, 1919, by Paramount Pictures.
The Lone Star Ranger is a lost 1919 American silent Western film based on the 1915 novel by Zane Grey and stars William Farnum. The film was directed by J. Gordon Edwards and produced and distributed by Fox Film Corporation. Portions of the film were shot in Palm Springs, California. Just 3 years after the release of the film Fox dusted off the script and refilmed the story with Tom Mix.
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